Winter Tigers 2018 - Part One

As we left the park for the last time, in May 2017, I knew I had to come back as soon as possible to Ranthambhore National Park. Whilst a lifelong passion for wildlife and especially big cats had definitely raised the bar of my expectations very, very high, nothing prepared me for how amazing that first trip had been. It wasn’t just seeing A LOT of tigers - which was obviously absolutely incredible - it was everything around those remarkable sightings too; tracking the tigers, looking for pug marks (footprints), listening for alarm calls, the spectacular habitats, the other wildlife, the wonderful people…everything!

Then there was the small matter of photography. I’m pretty used to having to deliver meaningful and creative images, when under pressure. It’s what I love about my approach to wedding photography and it’s what keeps my passion for that side of my work fresh. I feel as though I produce my best work when I’m left to work it out right then, in the moment - too much pre-planning feels very stifling. 

This was very similar - you would go from nearly dozing off, to full on, adrenaline-pumping, action - all whilst bouncing around in a moving jeep, squeezed in with 5 other people, handholding a 500mm lens, in 45+c heat! 

The opportunity to switch off from the outside world, completely immerse yourself in your surroundings and be so focussed on one, tantalising goal was so, so thrilling for me. I had to get back to India asap! 

Choosing to come back to Ranthambhore at the end of November was all about the light. In summer, you got fantastic, soft light, for an hour or so, at the beginning and the end of the day - in all of the tiger sightings we had in summer, only one was in this kind of light, on the very last morning. Winter is a completely different ball game - the light only really begins to get very hard for an or two around midday BUT (and it’s a big but) tiger sightings are generally way more difficult to come by. In summer the heat is intense, approaching 50c at its peak and pretty much unrelenting all day. The tigers really feel this too and they search out the ever-shrinking waterholes, to cool off. This lack of water, along with the lack of foliage and canopy cover in the forest, makes them relatively much easier to spot. The also tend to move around much less in the heat, meaning much longer encounters.

All of this makes you think winter is a write-off and not worth bothering with! BUT that tantalising possibility of a tiger in amazing light, was enough to secure another booking with Andy and the Dream Team!

Our first day was pretty tough going, sightings-wise, as we predicted. However, what was so fantastic for me, was that when we did eventually see tigers, they were all new to me. We came across Krishna, the dominant adult female in Zone 4, and her sub-adult cubs. Krishna is the daughter of Ranthambhore’s most famous tiger, Machali, the subject of many a tv documentary - I had everything crossed that we would come across her again.

Our first sighting was pretty distant, across a riverbed; as the family didn’t look to be in an active mood, we thought that might be that but thankfully one of the young males decided to come to the waters edge to drink and cool off.

The next morning, peacock and Spotted deer alarm calls tipped us off that a tiger was close by and eventually Krishna’s daughter appeared in the undergrowth, next to the jeep. She was stalking a peacock but, as for many inexperienced young tigers, her efforts didn’t amount to anything.

That was it for the next 4 hours. All you can do when nothing is around is trust in the expertise of Andy, Dicky, the drivers and guides, and keep searching!

One of best ways to find tigers is to use your ears - the forest is full of watchful eyes and both Sambar and Spotted deer, Langur monkeys and peacocks will make harsh calls - called alarm calls - to let any other forest residents know when a predator is around. It’s an efficient neighbourhood watch and makes the life of a tiger that much more difficult. The guides are so tuned in to these calls, how persistent they are and the areas they come from, that they know if the animal on the prowl is a tiger or a leopard. They really know their stuff.

Eventually the searching paid off and we came across another new tiger; a magnificent adolescent male, around two and half years old - and he was on the move.

As ever, our driver, The Boss, and Andy got us into the best possible position and we could follow him as he made his way down the rocky hill, back to the forest floor. Some sub-adult tigers are very nervous but not a bit of it from this fella; he was completely uninterested in our presence and just carried on going about his business.

Whilst it seems at odds with one of the most awesome predators on Earth, in the last picture he really reminds me of a big, fluffy dog! You can really see the youthful look on his face. Not sure I’d be giving him a hug anytime soon though!

We spent a few precious minutes with him and then he was off again, into the forest where we couldn’t follow. After such a great encounter, we were more than satisfied and thought that was that.

Another 3 or 4 hours went by without tigers and we thought we’d move from Zone 4 and have a quick check of Zone 2 (where we spent nearly all of our time the summer before), before it was time to leave the park. We made the right choice…

The summer before we had spent almost all of our time with Noor and her three young cubs. Noor was completely captivating; a fantastic mother and a terrifying foe, to any who dare cross her. If looks could kill…

Within a few minutes of getting into the heart of Zone 2, we came across one of Noor’s daughters and what a difference 18 months had made.

She was now independent and had temporarily taken over many of the areas her mother controlled when I was there last. Noor had all but disappeared and when she had been fleetingly seen, it had only been in the same small area - classic behaviour from a tigress about to give birth, or who already has very small cubs. Needless to say, when Noor was ready to patrol her full territory again, it may be time for her daughter to move on.

What was clear, was that this young tigress was Noor’s daughter - she had the attitude and killer stare to prove it!

How spoilt were we, on only our second day! Beers round the campfire that night were all the sweeter!

Check back very soon to see how we got on for the rest of the week. Would we finally catch up with Krishna and would we come across any of iconic adult tigers we were lucky enough to see the year before…watch this space!

Ranthambhore's Tigers (Part Four)

Arrowhead in glorious light, just after sunrise. An image I'm proud to say has been selected as Wild Planet magazine's cover for July!

After the mornings epic battle, we searched the park in the afternoon to see what was going on in the aftermath. We found a couple of Ghost's cubs back in the 'green waterhole', one of the man made waterholes, a distance away from where the fight had happened earlier. We eventually found Noor and the cubs, now well away from the other side of the boundary - clearly she was happy to leave that area and find her cubs, who had wisely retreated hastily from the action earlier. The guides told us she would continue to patrol and lay claim to those newly-won areas, cementing her dominance. Noor and cubs happily reunited, we left the park after another remarkable day, stopping to capture the setting sun over a nearby temple. 

That next morning we found Noor's cubs in the same spot, lounging around. After spending so much time with them, we decided to head off in search of tigers new!

After a brief encounter with Arrowhead, we headed back to see Noor's cubs by the waterhole, partaking in a few rounds of 'The Drongo Challenge', all adorned in our tiger shirts for the inaugural 'Bad Shirt Day' - I actually quite liked mine! Another day and two more drives seeing tigers were complete. We'd seen tigers on 13 out of 13 drives - so, so lucky and way beyond anything I could've possibly hoped for. Our very last drive was the next morning, so fingers crossed for the clean sweep!

The clean sweep was complete, with my best walking photos of the trip so far - Arrowhead in perfect morning light. Enough said. 

Arrowhead was clearly walking with purpose; she was hungry and on the hunt. We hoped that we might add to our already incredible run of luck and see a tiger hunt but sadly, it wasn't to be. I'll save that for next time!

Following Arrowhead took us further into Zone 3, a definite contender for the most picturesque zone we ventured into. The ruins of the maharaja's temples and garden palaces making a truly stunning backdrop. A black-winged stilt and more spotted owls gave us good views along the way. 

Arrowhead crossed the lake towards the interior of the ruins of the garden palace and our Indian adventure came to a close. 

It's probably pretty obvious (if you've managed to stay with me to this point!), that Ranthambhore has left a lasting impression on me! It's a truly magical place and if you ever get the chance to visit there, just do it! If you want to see tigers, there are simply no better team to be led by than Andy, Dicky and co. The more the week progressed, the more we all came to realise we were with the best team in the park, by a country mile. 

I'll be back, hopefully next year, and already can't wait for my next adventure in Ranthambhore!

Ranthambhore's Tigers (Part Three)

Noor, at full stretch, in pursuit of Ghost. More from their incredible showdown later!

The next morning, we decided to move from Zone 2, to see who we could find. Apart from a very distant view of local dominant male T57, we hadn't come across any other males in our time in Zone 2. Male tigers are the largest and most powerful cats on the planet, so it was definitely an ambition of mine to see one up close and personal! Whilst we didn't catch up with a male that morning, we spent our time in the company of some great birdlife; painted stork, great egret, great stone-curlew, spoonbill, rose-ringed parakeet and Indian darter, to name but a few.

Leaving the birds, we headed back to Zone 2 in search of Noor and the cubs. We eventually found them in the rocky valley and they soon began making their way towards the waterholes that marked the boundary of Noor and Ghost's territories. Unbelievably, whilst Noor and family were sat in the shade of a tree, Ghost began patrolling the closest waterhole and, as you can see in the last shots above, Noor and the cubs clocked her. Chaos then ensued - Noor ran off after Ghost and the pile up of jeeps jostled to get out to follow her. We heard phenomenal roars in the near distance and hearts-pounding in our chests, eventually got out of the scrum of jeeps.

A potentially once in a lifetime experience - two adult tigresses fighting over territory. The last sequence was all right in front of us and the action and awe-inspiring roars had my heart literally pounding out of my chest. Unfortunately our jeep actually missed them briefly fighting (you win some, you lose some) but you can see some pictures and video from that titanic duel on Dicky's Facebook. It was great the other jeep got to see it all and after so many years in the park, Dicky & Salim definitely deserved to see that kind of epic behaviour way more than I did!

After more posturing and roaring, Noor forced Ghost deeper into the thicker bush, away from the priceless waterholes that had been favourites for Ghost and her cubs, claiming them for her and her family. Finally happy that Ghost had retreated far enough, Noor then patrolled her new patch, roaring constantly, claiming all the area as her's. She even took time to cool off in a really picturesque waterhole that hadn't been used so far during the week, against the backdrop of Ranthambhore's mountainous surroundings. 

Scroll down for my final instalment - more from Noor and some fantastic encounters with Arrowhead!

Ranthambhore's Tigers (Part Two)

Settle in and grab yourselves a brew - this is a long one!

If you missed Part One, you can check it out here. 

Here she is, Noor, giving me 'the look'! Whilst of course any adult tiger is an incredibly impressive sight, Noor was something else. She was clearly the biggest tigress we encountered and carried herself with an air of superiority, that you just knew she could back up. In some of the later photos you will see just how powerfully built she is but I felt this look just said it all about her, "I'm in charge, don't mess!"

Noor's cubs are about a year younger than Ghost's, which means they are a lot more playful. Whilst this 'play' seems much more good natured, in reality everything the cubs do is informing their later lives. Either way, it's really fun to watch!

Kinda like domestic kittens, this play fight sequence started over possession of a treasured stick (which they begrudgingly shared at the end!). However, being six month old tiger cubs, in water, just made the encounter so dramatic and, in danger of sounding like a broken record, you had to really pinch yourself that you were lucky enough to witness such captivating bevhaviour. 

After spending such a great day in the privileged company of Noor and her cubs, the langurs put on a show for us, on our way out of the park, all bathed in beautiful, backlit, evening light. Another of the treats Ranthambhore regular throws you, throughout the days there!

Whilst with Noor's cubs earlier in the day, we'd heard deer alarm calls in the distance. As well as checking pug marks and waterholes for tigers, sustained alarm calls are the other, pretty sure fire, way of knowing a tiger or a leopard is around. On our way out of the park, we came across this distant male leopard, on a spotted deer kill. He was very wary and for good reason. Tigers are unquestionably the top cats in Ranthambhore and will not only steal leopard kills but will kill both adult leopards and their cubs, if they get the chance. 

Whilst I'd hoped to see leopards in Ranthambhore, I hadn't held out much hope. The thick forest habitat along with their wariness of tigers, made the chances pretty slim. So we were all really surprised when we rounded the corner the next morning to see this male laid in the middle of the road! A brief but fantastic encounter which, quite unbelievably, was about to be well and truly bettered later that afternoon!

After our leopard encounter, we found Noor and her cubs, out of the water in a forest clearing. Well I say, 'clearing', in reality, as you can see from the images, it was full of foliage and really tricky to get any usable shots, without a huge twig cutting across a tiger's face! It made us all realise that even though you were stood next to someone, sometimes using the same lens and camera body, you were coming out with totally different shots! 

Interestingly, the family was finishing off a spotted deer carcass; the same spotted deer we found the leopard with the previous night. Clearly Noor had remembered the alarm calls she'd heard that afternoon and when the weather cooled down, had headed across into that area and stolen the leopard's kill. 

After sharing our lunch with a five striped palm squirrel, we stumbled across our third adult tigress of the trip, Arrowhead. In comparison to Noor's muscular bulk, Arrowhead is slim and lithe and a real beauty. A young tigress, Dicky & Salim told us that she tends to walk during the day, to avoid coming across other, more dominant tigers. The lakes and temple ruins of Zone 3 are her usual domain, so it was a treat to find her on her travels, on our way out of the park. We would see her again later in the trip, so keep your eyes peeled for that in later posts. 

As usual we were first at the park gates for our afternoon drive. The heat was at its furnace-like peak and we were all focussed on catching up with Noor and family again, when we rounded a corner and had to slam on the brakes because, again, a male leopard was sat in the middle of the road. This time, he was clearly in full hunting mode - as the jeeps piled up behind us, not once, even for a glance, did he takes his eyes off the sambar deer in the thick bush to our left. We were literally a few metres away from him and were praying he was going to strike...

All of our camera's tracking systems failed as the leopard hit the really thick bush and, clearly there was no clear picture to be had, even if they had been able to lock on. Whilst my view was obscured, we were told the leopard managed to jump onto the back of sambar deer, who promptly kicked him off, sending him flying. Thankfully he wasn't injured and slinked off down the road. 

More tomorrow, when we witnessed a battle of two titans!

Ranthambhore's Tigers (Part One)

This year is shaping up to be pretty special for my photography. My weddings are taking me all over Europe and I'm finally finding the time to dedicate some of my off season to my lifelong passion for wildlife. Whilst every photographic adventure is very special in its own right, I'd been counting down to this trip to Ranthambhore, India, for a looooong time. 

I guess like many kids, I was seriously in to tigers from a very young age. The difference is that my passion for them didn't disappear with age, it only grew! Of all the big cats, tigers have always been the ultimate for me, for many reasons that I won't completely geek out on here. Despite that, I really didn't imagine that, any time soon, I would get the opportunity and absolute privilege to see them in the wild, never mind have the absolutely mind blowing encounters we witnessed during our week in magical Ranthambhore.

It's very important to say here that tiger numbers, whilst on the increase globally, are still desperately low. They are still relentlessly poached and their numbers suffer greatly from retaliatory killings and habitat loss. To lose one of the planet's most iconic species would be disastrous to us all and the habitats they are still found in - this slow increase in numbers shouldn't be taken for granted. In the last hundred years their numbers have fallen from 100,000 to around 4,000 today. To sponsor a tiger and do your bit for their conservation, you can do so here.

It has to be said that none of this would have been remotely possible without the incredible team I was lucky to be led by. Andy Rouse and Dicky Singh are two of the world's most renowned tiger photographers (click the links for more of their awesome work) and in Salim, Himmat and Rajkumar, there are no finer guides and drivers in the park. 

Finally, in answer to a couple of questions I've been getting; yes, these tigers are all absolutely wild and yes, we got very, very close to them!

Our first encounter with Ghost, on our very first drive, was whilst she crossed a rocky valley. It turned out she was heading back to her cubs, who were feasting on a Sambar deer kill by the side of a forest trail. Ghost gets her name from being a tad elusive. As her territory is next door to the legendary tigress, Noor (more from her later!),  a lot of the time she likes to keep herself and her family in thick bush. Clearly this plan is working well for her and the cubs; they are all fit and healthy - the cubs are a very impressive trio indeed. 

The purpose of this sequence is not to be blatantly gruesome, more that this is completely natural behaviour for carnivorous predators, like tigers. When you think of tiger cubs, you possibly imagine something cute and cuddly - however, these guys are nearly a year and a half old and very powerful in their own right. There is a hierarchy at the kill and each tiger eats his or her fill, before the next gets a go. Any tiger trying to sneak in for a bite is dismissed in no uncertain terms! Although the bushes were very thick and not at all suitable for great photos, just being within a few metres of this kind of action was absolutely remarkable. 

Whilst Ghost was living up to her name, the intense heat in Ranthambhore in summer means that every tiger, even the secretive ones, have to cool down. Despite the temperature being 45c + every day, summer is probably the best time to see tigers in Ranthambhore; as well as the forest being less full of vegetation, as the weather is so hot and so dry, the few waterholes that don't dry up become oases and the tigers gravitate towards them. After an amazing first day, on the way out of the park we were treated to great views of Indian nightjar, brown fish owl and the ever-present langur monkeys. 

Our next morning was the first opportunity to photograph tigers in the open, in the beautiful warm light, after sunrise. As I mentioned earlier, after eating, during the heat of the day the tigers gravitate towards waterholes. To get there they have to walk! This can offer some great opportunities for photography - one of Ghost's male cubs was particularly bold and gave us a great encounter, along the forest trail. The final couple of pictures in this sequence are him picking up another tiger's scent on a tree and then him performing the flehmen response; a behaviour where the scent and pheromones are inhaled and essentially processed, giving him information on who's been there and when. 

Later we followed the cubs to one of their favourite waterholes, under a rocky cliff. The cubs chased each other around, in some lovely light and even this spotted owl was impressed!

Before I came on this trip, I'd read many of Andy's updates from his previous trips and had heard him speak at local talks about his current favourite tigress, Noor. Without ever seeing her, she had already become a bit of legend and we had been told that if she was sighted, we would definitely be leaving Ghost and her cubs to find Noor and her three six month olds. Let's just say that we weren't disappointed and my next blog will be all about the legendary Noor and her current litter. Here's a teaser for you all - what a truly awesome cat she is!

The Serengeti - Yorkshire Wildlife Photographer

Since being a very young boy, the Serengeti, and the incredible wildlife that lives there, has been a place I have dreamed of visiting.  Meaning "Endless Plains" in Maa, the Maasai language, the Serengeti region covers a vast area of 12,000 square miles, stretching from northern Tanzania, into southern Kenya, where it's named the Maasai Mara. 

The diversity of the wildlife found here is astonishing, owing its place to not only the world famous grasslands but the swamps, woodland and kopjes that make up this remarkable place. 

The Great Migration passes through this region every year, governed by the rains and the new grass that they bring. The dramas that unfold along the way are no doubt well known to all of you and whilst we weren't there in the absolute height of it all, to be caught up in the Migration itself, was one of the most incredible experiences we'd ever had in our lives. The sheer number of animals migrating is astounding and, of course, those animals bring out predators of every kind; particularly the big cats I love so much...

After crossing the border from Ngorongoro into the Serengeti, we came across a pair of Lions, coming towards the end of their courtship together. Lions pair up for a few days and leave the pride during this period, not leaving each other's side. I was lucky enough to capture the moment where the lioness let her partner know that she was none too happy with his advances; he was firmly put in his place and went off to have a breather on top of the kopje!

We later realised that although the Migration involves such an incredible number of animals, surprisingly it can creep up on you out of the nowhere! Our first experience of it was just a taster of what was to come. 

Around this time, we also came across a Wildebeest carcass, that had probably died from natural causes, or exhaustion. The vultures, and the odd Marabou stork, came from far and wide to squabble over the spoils. Vultures get a lot of bad press but the job they do is of absolutely critical importance to the ecosystem as a whole. The acid in their stomachs is highly corrosive, facilitating the digestion of decomposing carcasses infected with diseases such as anthrax, cholera, botulinum toxin, and rabies that would be lethal to other scavengers.

After the excitement of the midday, we pretty much hit a blank and the rest of the plains were frustratingly deserted. As I mentioned in my earlier Ngorongoro blog, we had expected our visit to be in the midst of the Tanzania 'long rains' and so far, this definitely wasn't the case. Because of this the grass was very dry and way too long to be of interest to the migrating herds - the area we were in was very quiet indeed. As the sun began to set, we did have a couple of nice encounters with a small group of Giraffe and a troop of Baboon, on their way to their nightly roost, but those cats I craved to see were sadly proving very elusive. 

That morning was an early start, 3.45am to be exact! Whilst a bit of a killer, it was all so we could travel to our site for a spectacular hot air balloon ride, over the plains. Our hour's journey, through the park, before we got to our flying site was an experience in itself and were lucky enough to see Hippo out of their daily waterholes and on the move; an impressive sight indeed. 

The flight itself was really special and I hope to share some of the video footage I managed to get, once I get round to editing it all. We had a great time but from a wildlife perspective the plains were still barren and silent. 

After our awesome breakfast under an Acacia tree (as you do!), it was back to the game drives and whilst the quiet theme continued, we did encounter some more Baboons and a small herd of Elephant, going about their seemingly incessant daily eating schedule! 

As our spirits began to drop a little, just as before, the Migration arrived! Out of nowhere, endless lines of Zebra and Wildebeest flooded the plains, surrounding us at all sides. Following the herds, picking off the hordes of flies, were flocks of Barn Swallows; those same beautiful birds that signal the arrival of, hopefully, nicer weather when they migrate back to the UK from March onwards. It was amazing to see them over in Africa and think that any one of them could be heading back to our patch in Yorkshire!

As if that wasn't enough, out of nowhere a group of three lionesses popped up out of the long grass. This time they weren't displaying the relaxed demeanour we'd seen elsewhere, they were completely alert and focussed and definitely on the hunt! Being midday, we couldn't believe our luck, as lions tend to hunt mostly at night, not only enjoying the obviously cooler temperatures but when their superior night vision gives them a big advantage. Clearly hungry, they pressed on and our excitement ramped up as they edged closer to the migrating herds.

With the grasses still being so high, the lions had such an advantage. Whilst we could see everything unfolding from the higher vantage point of the jeep, the ever-skittish herds had no idea they were there. One lioness edged closer and took a gamble...

...but was too far away to make her ambush count. 

The element of surprise had gone for the moment but soon enough the herds relaxed and another chance came; this time the lions didn't make any mistake. As you can see, the grass was way too long for anything but record shots but the experience will live with us for the rest of our days. It was mind blowing stuff and pretty indescribable; our hearts were in our mouths and whilst you have to feel for the loser in these encounters, the pure power and teamwork of the lionesses was truly awesome. For me, nothing can compare to witnessing this type of event in nature, it's primeval and raw and totally exhilarating. 

After the carnage, everything settled down again, as the lions ate their fill, hidden away in the grass. We later learned that the senior lioness (with a collar on), left the kill site to bring the pride's cubs along but we were well gone by then. Before we left, a herd of Elephant cut across our path, with several calves in tow. 

Not believing our luck, we were on a high for the rest of the day's drive and whilst we didn't see anything to match earlier, we had some good sighting of many different species, including (to name but a few) Hippo, Topi, Ostrich and, finally, Cheetah. We saw three individual Cheetah during our two days in the Serengeti but sadly both encounters were distant. Cheetah, along with Leopard, are high on my 'to do' list for my next trip and I'll be doing my best to focus more on these cats next time around. 

That's it for this Serengeti blog and I hope this small selection of the pictures I took has been of interest to you all. Be sure to keep your eye for the final installment of our African adventure; Tarangire and it's amazing Elephant herds! 

The Ngorongoro Crater - Yorkshire Wildlife Photographer

The first leg of our Tanzanian adventure took us into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and more specifically, the Ngorongoro Crater itself. The world's largest inactive and unfilled caldera, the Ngorongoro Crater is like nowhere else on the planet. Two to three million years ago a large volcano, likely a similar size to Africa's highest peak, Kilimanjaro, exploded and imploded in on itself, forming a crater 2000 feet deep and covering an area of a 100 square miles. It's an ecosystem within itself; the crater walls covered by extensive forests and bushland; the crater floor, largely open grassland, harbouring a seasonal salt lake and pockets of fever tree woodland. 

Approximately 25,000 large animals live in the crater and because of its rich pickings, many never leave. The majority of wildebeest and half of the zebra that live here, don't join the migration, as the crater provides everything they need, year round. It's described by some as the world's largest zoo and you can see why! Viewing the crater from above, it seems devoid of life but as you get down at ground level, the sheer amount of animals and birds in there is breathtaking. 

We only had the opportunity to explore for 7 or 8 hours but it definitely left us wanting to see more and you can see why many people visit the crater year after year. As a wildlife photographer, you are constantly juggling the composition of your subject, with the available light; making great images can, in some cases, take a lifetime of visits to a location and, of course, quite often your subject simply can't be even be found! As we only had one game drive here, many of these pictures are merely a record of what we saw and, hopefully, future visits will allow me to really study the crater's residents and garner some more exciting results. Fingers crossed for the future!

Very early on into our drive we came across two male lions, doing what they do best...lazing around! At last count, the crater is home to 62 lions, across six prides. We only had a close encounter with one group of lionesses, with cubs of various ages but did see several other lions at a distance, across the crater floor, presumably belonging to the other prides. As the crater is a natural enclosure, the lion population has suffered genetically, becoming significantly inbred. Very few migrating male lions get access to the crater, thus stunting the local gene pool. 

The highlight of Ngorongoro for me was definitely the sighting of this Caracal; an elusive, medium-sized cat that, along with the Cerval, hunt the long grasses for small mammals, birds & rodents. Generally very hard to see, we were so lucky to be treated to such great views, despite the harsh, midday light . 

Male African Elephant

Groups of males roam the crater, whilst the matriarchal herds prefer the highlands of the crater walls and beyond. 

Grey Crowned Cranes in flight

Grant's Gazelle

Grant's Zebra

Grey Crowned Cranes

A lone Wildebeest bull

Black-Backed Jackal

Black Rhino

One of only 16 Black Rhinos in the crater. A real privilege to see this very rare animal - he was clearly enjoying himself! ;) Whilst funny to see, Rhinos have a tough reproductive cycle; pregnancy lasts 15 months and females only give birth every 3 years. Males tend to be 10-12 years old before they can claim a territory and mate, so with so few Rhinos around, it's a slow process to increase their numbers, which were completely decimated by poachers in the 70s. 

Spotted Hyena

One of 600 Hyena in the crater, the dominant predator here. The sheer number of Hyena means they hunt for the majority of their food, rather than scavenging other's kills as much as elsewhere.

Golden or Common Jackal

Warthog

Grant's Zebra

Eland

Rufous-naped Lark

Cape Buffalo

Tawny Eagle

Male African Elephant

Black Kite

Grant's Zebra

Kori Bustard

Cape Buffalo & Yellow-billed Oxpecker

African Jacana

White Stork

Grant's Zebra

Imm. Tawny Eagle

Small group of Wildebeest & Eland

Wood Sandpiper

Cape Buffalo sparring

Acacia trees

This is really just a taster of the hundreds of photos I took in our short time in the crater. A truly incredible place! Check back here soon for part two and the Serengeti National Park!

Kingfisher photography in Yorkshire

Here it is, my first post on my 'the wilds' page blog! For those of you who are landing on my site for the first time, here's a bit of background about me...

First and foremost, I'm a wedding photographer and have been working professionally as such for the last 7 years. I love my job and find that it continues to excite and inspire me with every wedding I do. I guess this is because the way I approach weddings is to work as naturally as possible; I work almost entirely with natural light, capturing the real emotions and moments as they unfold, trying not to stage any photos throughout the day. I photograph what creatively gets me going and, thankfully, I've been lucky enough to be hired by loads of amazing clients who share in that creative idea. I feel very lucky that I'm able to not compromise this 'style' and still be able to maintain a really great business at the same time.

I've been interested in photography for many years and have had real passion for wildlife and the outdoors as long as I can remember. This passion has only grown as time has gone on and it was a natural progression for me to want to try and photograph what I was experiencing around me. I'm a completely self taught photographer and have endlessly researched as I've gone along, gradually improving my technical knowledge to try to create photos that better reflected what I was seeing in my head. Easier said than done! As I improved, I got asked by friends to photograph various events for them and that's how I ended up doing my first wedding in 2010. The rest is history!

I want to use this wildlife and landscape blog to share a bit more of the thought process and approach to my work - not always sharing just the marquee, stellar portfolio images but sometimes the ones that were part of getting to that final result. I'd also like to share technical data about some of the shots, which will hopefully explain a little more about the resulting image and why it works, or doesn't!

Right, on to kingfishers...

1DX, 100-400 L II + 1.4 TC, 1/125 sec @ f/8, ISO 6400

Here it is, my first ever kingfisher photo worth looking at. It's a mile away from what I wanted but it was a start. I'd had a couple of fleeting glimpses of a kingfisher when on family walks around our local village and after a few fairly regular sightings in one spot, I thought it could be a potential opportunity. As it wasn't a suitable spot to set up a more permanent hide, I actually took this shot from the car window which, I've found, the kingfishers are more than happy about! In this early stage I was just absolutely ecstatic that I had such a beauty in my sights at all, so happily snapped away whilst the moment lasted. The light was horrible (hence ISO 6400), and the background very distracting but the project was a goer!

The top level of our local village pond.

1DX, 100-400 L II, 1/20 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 5000

I knew that the spot from my car was fine for watching the bird but no good for getting the photos I really wanted. The stream I'd been parked by is fed by a natural spring, which fills a large, privately owned, pond before flowing down into the stream itself. I spoke to the landowner of the pond and was gratefully allowed to set up a more permanent tent hide, on the pond's edge. I had several sessions in the hide, arriving about an hour before sunrise, to make sure I got into position early enough not to be seen and disturb the kingfisher. Every morning, about half an hour before sunrise, the male I'd been watching would fly past the hide, calling as he flew up to the top end of the pond, to begin his day's fishing. I'd catch regular glimpses of him as he flew from one favourite perch to another, calling as he went. This time, whilst yielding no decent images whatsoever, was essential, as it allowed me to get a better idea of the bird's routine. Essential when trying to photograph any wild species over a sustained period of time. So, everything sounds perfect, right? Well, not quite! 

The pic of the pond above shows what I was up against - the entire thing is surrounded by natural perches; it's a pretty large pond and the pic only shows half of it! Whilst I could wait and hope the kingfisher would land close enough to my hide to get a decent shot, even with a 400mm lens and a 1.4 teleconverter, he would still be way too far away for anything but a shot displaying him in his habitat, like the one above. 

It was time to try to engineer the situation a little more, to help me out...

A mobile phone shot from my hide, on one of many cold mornings! Notice the first perch I set up, in the middle of the photo. 

1DX, 100-400 L II, 1/40 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 3200

This was the first decent image I took of our now infamous male kingfisher, on my own perch! As many a fisherman's tale will atone to, a kingfisher is likely to check out any new perches in it's territory, including a rod they've just set up on the bank - understandably, they want to exert as little precious energy as possible, so every new perch has to be checked out, as it might be a potential hot spot for feeding. 

As this was taken before the rising sun reached the perch I'd set up, the light, whilst nice and warm, was at a very low level. Because of this I had to use ISO 3200 to get just a 1/40 second shutter speed. As kingfishers tend to sit pretty still on their perches (apart from an occasional bob of the head to judge diving distances), and my camera and lens were on a tripod, I knew I could get away with a very slow shutter speed and still get relatively clean results from ISO 3200. Any real movement though and everything would've been out of focus. 

1DX, 100-400 L II, 1/80 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 1600

1DX, 100-400 L II, 1/100 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 1600

1DX, 100-400 L II, 1/60 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 1600

The three images above show some of shots I managed to get from my next day in the hide. I set up a new perch, with a cleaner background, and removed some of those distracting grasses that were slicing through the frame of my previous day's shots. Not only did the kingfisher use the new perch but actually successfully fished from it LOADS!

You'll notice I used ISO 1600 for all of the above shots, as I wanted to keep the files as clean as possible, as the light levels were very low again. The light wasn't in my favour but these were definitely my best kingfisher shots to date and I was a happy man! Until...

...the sightings completely dried up! I went back to the hide for several days in a row and saw nothing, not a glimpse. After such a great couple of sessions, it was a real shame to pack up the hide but I knew it was time to move on to something else and hope for more activity in the spring, as birds begin to pair up to breed. The disappearance could've been down to any number of factors - kingfishers are a notoriously delicate species and anything from predation, another male entering the territory, to the bird simply moving on to pastures new, could've been a possibility. Kingfishers are known to move closer to the coast in colder weather, so I hoped that was case and he'd be back later in the year. Fingers crossed.

Whilst the hide was bagged up again for the time being, I still wanted to work with kingfishers, as they're such an amazing bird and I didn't feel like I got any of the images I was constantly planning out in my head. So, after a bit of research, I booked a session at a local hide near Leeds, run by Mark Hughes - http://markhughesimages.net. Let's just say I wasn't disappointed!

5D4, 500 L II + 1.4 TC, 1/800 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 3200

5D4, 500 L II + 1.4 TC, 1/4000 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 2500

Even on a very cold and mostly grey day, before the higher activity of the breeding season, his resident male visited the hide at least 5 or 6 times. The first visit was just 10 minutes after Mark left me in the hide and the kingfisher fished a few times and then seemingly just chilled for nearly 45 minutes! It was very clear to see that Mark's birds aren't in any way bothered by regular photographers visiting their local patch. A really great thing to see. Mark's set up is fantastic but I'm not going to share specific details of it here, you need to book a session to see for yourselves.

Most kingfisher photography can be split into perching shots and diving/action shots. The perching shot in my mind's eye was to see the bird's incredible iridescent blue stripe down it's back, as it looked almost over it's shoulder to the fish below - the final shot of the three above, just about nails that, so I was really happy (check out the close up below, that really shows those amazing colours. Pretty remarkable). The middle shot was one that stood out to me, purely for the fish's expression! You'll notice nearly all of the shots were taken on my new 5D4, rather than the 1D, which would be a more obvious choice for wildlife photography. This was intentional for the perching shots, as I was in better light and wanted to be able to use the flexibility of a full 30MP file, in case I wanted to creatively crop etc. 

5D4, 500 L II + 1.4 TC, 1/800 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 640

5D4, 500 L II + 1.4 TC, 1/3200 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 2500

5D4, 500 L II + 1.4 TC, 1/2500 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 2500

5D4, 500 L II + 1.4 TC, 1/3200 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 2500

The next three images show some of the juggling a kingfisher does with a fish, once it's been caught. Once they've got a decent grasp of it, they usually whack the fish against their perch to stun it, before swallowing it whole. If the kingfisher is eating the fish for itself, it will eat it head first - this is particularly important for species like sticklebacks, as the spines could get lodged in their throats, if swallowed tail first. You'll notice in the pic above, the fish is pointing tail down first - this is because this little fella had eaten his fill and was going to present that particular fish to his mate, who was waiting down river. Mark told me that it would be another couple of weeks before the male and female would both visit his hide together, which I would love to witness, later in the year. 

5D4, 85 Art, 1/2000 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 2500

5D4, 85 Art, 1/2000 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 2500

5D4, 100-400 L II, 1/2500 sec @ f/7.1, ISO 3200

The last three images show my first attempts at some diving photos. Before I go any further, it's worth saying that a kingfisher dive is over in a literal flash - it's so quick! To photograph this with any success takes a lot of pre-planning and Mark's set up is amazing for getting great results. However, it's still a matter of being as prepared as possible...and then getting lucky! 

One of the main reasons I'll be back to Mark's hide again is that these diving pictures, whilst ok, really aren't what I'm seeing in my head. To capture these shots, the camera is positioned outside the hide and triggered remotely, whilst the photographer is sat hidden in the hide. Unfortunately I had to use my 5D for these, as I didn't have a wireless remote shutter release for my 1D and it doesn't have WiFi built in. 7fps vs 12 fps is a HUGE difference when doing this kind of thing, so I can't wait to go back when I have the proper kit. Also, the light was pretty horrible, as you can see, so it was a struggle to balance everything and still get a quick enough shutter speed to freeze any of the action. Ideally, 1/4000sec and quicker is required and I didn't quite want to risk the extremely high ISOs to attain that speed, in those really bad lighting conditions. Hopefully next time. Despite all that, it's just amazing to look back at the pics and be able to see such an incredible bird doing what it does best!

I hope you've enjoyed reading about my first forays into photographing kingfishers. They're a truly iconic bird and the reaction to some of these photos on my social media has been testament to how much people love them. Being allowed a little closer into their world, is what really excites me as a wildlife photographer and I can't wait to spend some time with them again, both at Mark's hide near Leeds and, hopefully, back on my local patch in Brompton, North Yorkshire.